Energy Ministry Urges PLN to Accelerate Coal Contracts for Power Plants

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has asked PT PLN (Persero) to accelerate the completion of coal procurement contracts to ensure supplies for steam-powered power plants (PLTU) remain secure until the end of the year. Director General of Minerals and Coal at the ministry, Tri Winarno, said the government has assigned mining companies to supply coal exceeding PLN’s needs in 2026. However, this assignment must be promptly followed by contracts so that coal deliveries to the power plants can proceed. “The contract is the basis for executing coal deliveries to the PLTU. Therefore, we continue to encourage PLN EPI to speed up the contracting process so that the assignments given can be immediately realised into deliveries,” Tri said in a written statement on Saturday, 11 July 2026. Tri explained that PLN’s coal requirement throughout 2026 is estimated to reach 154 million metric tonnes. To meet this need, the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal has assigned mining companies a total volume of 212 million metric tonnes through the Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) scheme. However, as of May 2026, only around 144 million metric tonnes of the assignment had been contracted. Of that amount, delivery realisation is estimated to reach 130.5 million metric tonnes. According to Tri, accelerating contract completion is key so that the government’s assignments can be promptly translated into coal supply to the PLTU as needed. For this reason, the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal continues to coordinate with PT PLN Energi Primer Indonesia (PLN EPI) to ensure coal supplies are available on time, in the right volume, and meet power plant specifications. “The government continues to ensure that PLN’s coal needs in the second half of 2026 can be met according to schedule and power plant specifications. Therefore, coordination and acceleration of contract completion must continue,” Tri said. In addition to the electricity sector, the directorate general continues to monitor the implementation of the domestic coal supply obligation, or DMO, for the non-electricity sector. Supervision is carried out periodically to ensure domestic supply obligations are fulfilled by mining companies. The request to accelerate contracts comes amid government efforts to improve coal supply for power plants. Previously, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia had formed a special team for the procurement of medium-calorie coal to meet the needs of PLN’s power plants. Bahlil said the formation of the team aims to guarantee the availability of primary energy for power plants so that electricity supply disruptions, including rolling blackouts, can be addressed. “Now, the coal is all on progress, so there are no more problems,” Bahlil said after inaugurating the Mini LNG Plant of PT Sumber Aneka Gas in Tuban, East Java, on Thursday, 26 June. Echoing Bahlil, PT PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo stated that the supply of coal matching the required specifications for PLTUs is now running smoothly. Darmawan said PLN will continue to improve coal supply chain governance and strengthen power plant reliability so that the electricity system, particularly in Java, becomes increasingly dependable. “The supply of primary energy (coal) that matches the specifications required by our power plants is running smoothly,” Darmawan said on Monday, 6 July 2026.